Ki Sung-yueng says he’s still not “100%” fit after recovering from the hamstring injury he picked up while on duty at the Asian Cup with South Korea.

Ki returned to Newcastle with a hamstring problem after the South Koreans realized he would not be fit to play again in the Asian Cup.

Rafa and the Newcastle medical team were not happy at the way the South Korean Federation handled the situation.

Ki managed to get 45 minutes in during Newcastle’s friendly against CSKA Moscow on Saturday in Spain, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Ki Sung-yueng – training in Murcia Spain

That should help Ki, who has played well for Newcastle over the last few months.

But now he has a rival in local lad Sean Longstaff who has been top class during the South Korean’s absence.

This is some of what Ki has said today to nufcTV:

“Hopefully, I get better and better and push more in the training. This game, 45 minutes, helped me get more fit.”

“It was quite cold, no big difference to Newcastle.” “At least we got some sun in the training camp. It was a great time, and we can build from here.”

“I think we have a crucial next three games – it’s going to decide our second part of the season,”

The next three games are all in just eight days – that’s a week in Beatles’ terms:

Sat 23 Feb   Newcastle vs Huddersfield      3:00pm
Wed 27 Feb   Newcastle vs Burnley           8:00pm
Sat 02 Mar   West Ham vs Newcastle          5:30pm

How many points can we take form those games do you think?

With almost everybody fit for the home game to Huddersfield Town on Saturday, we’ll have to see who ends up on the bench – but the starting eleven and the bench will be strong.

What do you think?

Comments welcome.